A look at a mostly DIY, basement renovation

The basement was a clean slate when renos began with the help of Yvonne Jeffery's parents.

Photograph by: Yvonne Jeffery
, Calgary Herald

You know you've spent too much time and money at Home Depot when the folks on the pro desk greet you by name and then hug you. Over the past seven years, it's been a fence. A deck. Insulating and drywalling the garage.

And from March 2010 to April 2011, it was The Basement.

So yes, I've spent enough time at my local HD that I can even navigate the plumbing aisle without help.

But that last reno? It's fair to say that blood, sweat and tears were all involved. I learned enough along the way to share a few lessons to — hopefully — spare you too much of all three.

No. 1: Know why you're renovating

Successful renos depend most of all on planning: research and planning and understanding what you want to achieve. I wanted to create additional living space that would provide a separate and welcoming space for visiting family and friends in my 1,100-square-foot, two-bedroom, 1 1/2-bathroom starter home. An additional, legally recognized bedroom was a must. So was another full bath. And storage space. Given the house and its location, overspending on finishes, legal secondary suites, wine cellars and media rooms didn't make sense. But comfort and safety did.

Planning also minimizes the need to make major changes during the reno; changes are always expensive.

No. 2: Get the permits (even though it's a pain)

First, the kudos: the City of Calgary's building inspectors were fabulous. Electrical, plumbing, structural — they showed up either mornings or afternoons as planned, they looked at everything carefully, they asked questions and seemed genuinely interested in the process.

But the permit approvals office? What should have been a straightforward half-day approval stretched into weeks, delaying the reno and causing a huge degree of unnecessary stress. I planned, I researched and I got blindsided by a rule change that wasn't listed on the city's website. I fixed that, only to have them find a missing measurement — not in the basement but on the deck on the site plan — that they should have identified when I was there the first time. After that?

They wanted the custom window specs from the manufacturer, never mind that they were the same as I'd put on the plan.

Permits and inspections are a good thing. Get them. They protect your investment (you can prove the reno is a legal one when you sell the house) and you (if it's not built to code, it likely isn't safe).

But be prepared for the permit approval process to be a hassle. And if the City of Calgary is listening? By all means, do your job; just please do it efficiently.

No. 3: There's always a way (but it might cost you)

For basement living spaces, especially bedrooms, you need two available exits, so that if one (e.g., the stairs) is blocked, the other (usually a window) offers a route out. Safety codes dictate the minimum window opening for safe "egress" and the window types allowed.

Instead of a sliding window that would look out on dirt, I wanted an inward swinging window that would meet code while minimizing the concrete that needed to be cut. Half a dozen window suppliers told me it couldn't be done, but I'd seen these windows in Europe and knew it had to be possible.

I finally found a local custom window manufacturer who made it easy.

It was way beyond what I'd budgeted for, but it's perfect.

No. 4: Enlist expert help

If you're doing parts of the reno yourself — possibly to save money — choose the DIY tasks carefully and leave others to the experts. Essentially, anything that can jeopardize the safety of the home (electrical) or be very expensive to fix if you get it wrong (rough-in plumbing) should be left to the pros.

This reno came with a long list of tasks I'd never done before. Along with the building store's pro desk, Internet videos and books, I turned primarily to my parents, who've pretty much renovated or built every house they've ever lived in. They've taught me drywalling, building stud walls, plumbing, planning and plenty more. I couldn't have done it without them.

No. 5: Get it in writing

When you can't do it yourself, you need a contractor. When you work with a contractor, you need written quotes, contracts and estimates.

I worked with both large and small contractors. Large contractors send out an estimating person who isn't the one who'll do the work. Smaller contractors tend to have the same person doing the work as estimating. I ended up preferring the latter, but smaller can come with less recourse if something goes wrong.

Note that all contractors complain about the contractor who worked in the space before they did.

No. 6: Tackle problems on the spot

If you — or a contractor — find or cause a problem (like the plumber's apprentice who shot a nail through coax cable, knocking out TV and phone service, or the spray insulation company that flooded the basement storage area), start working on a solution immediately.

In the case of a large contractor, I would (having learned the hard way) call the estimator, supervisor or quality control person when the problem occurs. Even while the workers are trying (or not trying, as the case might be) to clean it up.

With apologies to Kenny Rogers and The Gambler, there comes a point in any renovation when you're done. Overwhelmed. Possibly even hysterical. For me, it was near the end: I just had a few more small jobs to do, including cutting holes in the ceiling tiles for the heat register to fit into the ductwork. Easy, right?

Maybe not so much. I was tired. I was frustrated that the joints in the moulding weren't looking tight and I might have to redo the whole job. The bathroom door wasn't closing properly and I didn't know how to fix it. So I tackled the tiles. But no matter how carefully I measured, the hole in the tile just wouldn't line up properly with the heat vent. I cursed. I cut again. I cursed some more.

Three hours later, I threw a ceiling tile across the basement, stepped off the ladder, sat on the floor and sobbed. Had I finally lost it? No, I'd just reached renovation overload. I dried my tears, climbed out of the basement and shut the door.

No. 8: Ask for help (and accept it when it's offered)

Reno overload was quickly followed by a call to my parents. They rode to my rescue armed with a DAP compound that filled the gaps in the moulding, and the know-how to fix both door and ceiling tiles. (Dad's verdict? I was attempting to install the register in a way that was both logical and doomed to failure. As always, he had a trick — he had both registers done within 20 minutes.)

No. 9: Unintended consequences happen; prepare to adapt

Planning only takes you so far. It wasn't until the spring that I realized the heating contractor hadn't considered the effect of the large west-facing windows on the main floors. The passive solar heating warms those floors, shutting down the thermostat — and leaving the basement without a source of heat.

With the walls up and finished, it was too late to put the basement forced air heating on its own thermostat. Portable electric heaters now solve the problem in spring and fall; in winter, when the main floor heat is kicking in, everything's toasty without the extra help.

People keep asking me what my next project is. For the record: I don't have one. I'm taking a break from major DIY projects for a while. Maybe a long while.

Although, you know, the fresh new basement's making the main floor look a little tired . . .

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